Winding apparatus



Jan. 30, 1962 FIG. I.

FIG. 3

D. G. BRADLEY WINDING APPARATUS Filed June 26, 1959 INVENTOR:

Don a/d Gordon B BYWM ATTORNEYS.

nited States Patent 3,018,973 WINDING APPARATUS Donald Gordon Bradley,Harrogate, England, assignor to Imperial Chemical Industries Limited,London, England, a corporation of Great Britain Filed June 26, 1959,Ser. No. 823,031 Claims priority, application Great Britain June 27,1958 3 Claims. (Cl. 242-48) This invention relates to an improvedwinding apparatus.

In the manufacture of fabrics, particularly warp knitted fabrics it isnecessary for the yarn packages to be so wound that it is possible tojoin together the ends of yarn from the bobbins being processed to thebeginning of other full bobbins. For this purpose it is useful to have ashort end of loose yarn on each full bobbin. This loose yarn is known inthe trade as a transfer tail.

When winding yarns, for example, in a drawing process, it is commonpractice to collect the yarns by means of a temporary collecting devicebeyond the wind-up point until stable operating conditions are obtainedand then to bring the yarn into contact with an entrainment device, sothat the yarn going to the temporary collecting device is cut or brokenand the yarn winds onto the bobbin via a traverse mechanism. Such aprocess is described in British Patent 643,625 wherein the temporarycollecting device is a suction tube.

Using the known entrainment devices the tail of yarn formed when theyarn is cut or broken is wrapped around the base of the spindle where itbecomes contaminated and damaged and is generally too difficult toremove for use as a transfer tail, although the winding machines must bestopped periodically to allow the spindles to be cleaned and thecontaminated yarn removed.

An object of the present invention is to provide a winding apparatus andprocess which can produce a transfer tail. Another object of ourinvention is to provide a winding process whereby the spindle wharferemains free of yarn during the string up.

According to our invention we provide a winding apparatus forfilamentary material being collected onto a rotating receiving bobbinvia a traverse mechanism wherein the filamentary material on thereceiving bobbin is provided with a trans-fer tail by means of anentrainment device positioned between the limit of the traversemechanism and a temporary collecting means for said filamentarymaterial, characterised in that the entrainment device is a memberprojecting radially to the axis of the bobbin and arranged to rotatewith the bobbin in the region between the end of the traverse path andthe end of the bobbin.

Furthermore we provide a process for winding filamentary material onto arotating receiving bobbin via a traverse mechanism wherein thefilamentary material on the receiving bobbin is provided with a transfertail by means of the entrainment device as hereinbefore described.

The entrainment means may comprise a device such as a notched ring or apeg which may be either attached to the bobbin surface or loosely heldby a key-hole shaped slot. The peg may be made of any suitable materialsuch as wood, metal, rubber or plastic. In a preferred embodiment of ourinvention the entrainment means comprises a peg forming an integral partof a rubber band which may be placed around a bobbin, thus allowing thepeg to be positioned without the bobbin having to be modified. The pegand band may be fabricated as a single moulding.

The temporary collecting means for the filamentary material may be anysuitable device which is capable of collecting the filamentary materialat the required linear 3,018,973 Patented Jan. 30, 1962 speed. We havefound a suction tube such as that described in our British Patent No.643,625 is satisfactory but we prefer to use the improved suction tubedescribed in co-pending United States application Serial No. 769,334,filed October 24, 1958, now Patent No. 2,955,- 409, whereby a knownamount of thread may be with drawn from the suction tube before thethread is broken in a controlled manner.

Our invention may be used on many types of yarn winding machines and wehave found that it is particularly suitable when drawing filaments ofpolyethylene terephthalates and polyamides on drawtwisting machines.

When winding bobbins of polyethylene terephthalate yarns, for example,on a drawtwister, the yarn passes from the supply package over rotatingdelivery rolls to a heating zone, over rotating draw rolls and then to aring and traveller traverse and a suction gun. The bobbin carryingspindle is then set in motion and the yarn being collected by thesuction gun is displaced so that it engages with the projectingentrainment means. As the entrainment means and bobbin rotate a fixedlength of filamentary material is withdrawn from the suction gun and iswound around the lower portion of the bobbin and provides a transfertail.

The attached drawings illustrate but do not limit our invention.

FIGURE 1 is an elevation view of the winding apparatus according to theinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 showing the apparatus in asubsequent step of winding;

FIGURE 3 is an elevation view of the apparatus in FIGURES 1 and 2,axially displaced, and showing the apparatus in still a subsequent stepof winding; and

FIGURE 4 is an elevation view of a modified embodiment of the apparatusshown in FIGURES 1-3.

In FIG. 1 a moving thread of yarn 1 from a delivery means, not shown,passes through the traveller 2 of a ring traverse 3 to a suction tube 4located tangentially to the bobbin surface a short distance below thelevel of a rubber peg 5. The rubber peg 5 is integral with an elasticmember such as a rubber band 6 or the like and said peg protrudessubstantially radially from the bobbin 7 at a position below the lowertraverse limit of the ring 3 and said bobbin is located on a rotatablespindle, not shown.

Referring now to FIG. 2. When it is required to wind the thread 1 ontothe bobbin, said bobbin is set in motion in the direction of the arrowand the thread of yarn 1 between the ring 3 and suction gun 4 isdisplaced either manually or automatically, so that the peg 5 engagesWith said yarn 1.

As the bobbin and peg 5 rotate the yarn tension between the peg 5 andsuction tube 4 increases and the thread within the suction tube isbroken and this length of thread is wound onto the bobbin at 8 (FIG. 3).At the same time the ring traverse 3 and traveller 2 start to wind onthe yarn to the bobbin in the usual manner.

We have found that when using the apparatus as described above there isa tendency for the tail to become unwound when the bobbin is removedfrom its spindle. This fault may be corrected by providing a second peg9 diametrically opposite peg 5 whereby the band 6 may be raised easilyand slipped over the tail to prevent it unwinding. This is illustratedin FIG. 4.

From the foregoing description of the various embodiments of thisinvention, it is evident that the objects of this invention,together'with many practical advantages are successfully achieved. Whilepreferred embodiments of my invention have been described, numerousfurther modifications may be made without departing from the scope ofthis invention.

Therefore, it is to be understood that all matters herein set forth orshown in the accompanyinng drawings are to be interpreted in anillustrative, and not in a limiting sense.

What I claim is:

1. In a winding apparatus for filamentary material, said apparatushaving a rotating receiving bobbin, a traverse mechanism to guide thematerial for collection upon the bobbin, and a temporary collectingmeans for said material; an entrainment device comprising an elasticmember encircling and secured by friction and its resilience to thebobbin in the region between the lower limit of the traverse mechanismpath and the bottom of the bobbin, and means on said member forentraining the material and providing that collected on the receivingbobbin with a transfer tail, the resiliency of said member permittingits repositioning upon a formed transfer tail to hold the same in placeupon the bobbin.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, and further including grippingmeans upon said member for facilitating repositioning of the same.

3. An apparatus as in claim 2, wherein said member is a rubber band, andsaid means are pegs projecting outwardly from and integral with saidband.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,431,323 Graybeal Nov. 25, 1947 2,706,090 Blok Apr. 12, 1955 2,763,442Bruestle Sept. 18, 1956 2,855,747 Rich Oct. 14, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS332,936 Great Britain July 30, 1930

